You have to be an idiot's idiot to run a temporary spare tire at high speeds. Now, using the spare wheel might be a viable option. But the tire? No way.

Rich Krause

 

rskrause - I covered that in my original post. I would of course above anything use proper speed rated tires.

Actually the tire I am thinking about running has been suggested to me in this post and from other people who use them on their "true" Drag Lights...a 165/15 tire Kumho Euro Metric 771...speed rated all the way up to 118 (T rated)...they are the stock size tires that came on Old VW Beetles.

aggiez28 - Maybe it was a dumb idea to suggest drilling some holes, could you explain to me exactly why? The integrity of the wheel would not be compromised drilling a few holes in a solid stamped wheel, or at least I wouldnt imagine so. Again I am not talking about taking out big portions, just something to get some air behind the wheels. But please...correct me.

Nathan

 

Fork out the $200 or so and just buy some draglites or whatever.. you will look much cooler and you won't have any safety issues. You can get the VW tires (165R15) at pep boys cheap ($25 or so) if you don't want to fork out the $100+ for drag fronts.

If you are going to use the spares.. don't touch them. the wheel is pretty important and modifying one in any way unless done by a proffessional is asking for trouble. Just my $.02..

 

Nathan,

I don't know where you live (your profile doesn't say), so this is just a thought.

If you're near a large University they may have a well equiped machine shop (U of SC has one you'd give your left nut for). The guys who run such facilities are experts in what they do and some even have engineering degrees. Most usually do "side work" for a fraction of what the work is worth. Perhaps you could take one of your wheels to them and get their opinion on cutting some weight out of the wheel. Doing something like this would be quick and easy if you've got the right equipment, and I doubt it would cost much (I'm thinking $20-$25 for the pair of wheels).

I'm curious why a lot of you think that cutting some holes in a stamped steel wheel (provided it's done correctly) would make the wheel any less strong than stamping/forging holes in an aluminum wheel as Weld does?

 

Thank You Raptor! Finally a helpful suggestion! I am currently going to SHSU, and we dont have an Engineering department...though since I am an Art major I am pretty good friends with most of the profs who work in the metal shop, and I could consult them. Though finally after two years at SHSU, i am transferring to the University of Texas at Austin and I know they will have people able to help me there! Thanks for your suggestion! And I agree with your statement about cutting the wheel!

Thanks

Nathan

 

I like the sound of this thread. My spare is sitting in the basement collecting dust anyway and I'm sure I could get another cheap, that plus new tires = $50 set of skinnies? And hell, those things might not stand out so bad if I threw a coat of silver paint on them

 

Thanks man! Exactly my plan...I would plan to paint them kind of a pale silver or grey (like the stock painted rim color)...and if I Hopefully get some GS or CETA style wheels..I'll paint them back black!

Thanks
Nathan

 

Just got back from Pep Boys. Here was the conversation:

Me: What do you have available in a 165-R15?

Parts guy: Only tire available in that size is a Futura (something or other) for $29.xx

Me: That sounds good!

Parts guy: But I only have two in stock though

Me: Perfect!

Parts guy: Where you the guy that just called about these earlier??

Me: (I hadn't called) No. Get out, someone was just looking for some of these???

 

Gregg, the answer was YES !

 

The weight savings will depend on how many holes you cut in it j/k

Seriously, we are not talking about going around corners at close to 1g here. Besides, ANY 15" x 3 1/2" wheel is not going to be recommended for street use either. Any of them that I've seen advertised say "FOR DRAG STRIP USE ONLY". That's because a skinny little wheel like that isn't designed to go around corners very fast - regardless of what wheel it is or who makes it. Actually, now that I think about it, that steel wheel would probably fair better going around corners than an aluminum one of the same size would. But then you have to consider the size of tire that's on that skinny little wheel too....just a thought

 

The later model spares for the LT1 fbodies (I dont know about the ls1 cars) have 14 ea 1-1/4 (approx) holes.

Appearently GM punched holes in the same spare rim they used on the earlier f-bodies. Using the same size holes with the same spacing, I dont see any harm in duplicating GM's handiwork.

spare

And guys, cut Nathan a little slack. It's been a long time (if ever) since some of you have had to hod-rod on a shoe-string budget. Just throwing down $200 dollars for rims may be easy for a lot of people, but try it on a college budget (when mom and dads not floating the bills)...

 

I appreciate the support Tim!.Thats really cool of you! Again, I Thank You!
Tim was that spare from a 3rd Gen or from your 93? If its from your 93 then some how I got totally unlucky, My spare does not have those holes!...I know for the LS1's they upgraded the spare to 16inch rim, but I thought all LT1 spares were the little 15X4s, solid with the only hole for the valve stem. Stupidly I never Checked out the spare from my '84 Trans Am, so I cant remember how it looked. Thanks for the heads up, I look forward to seeing you Sunday! Which by the way thanks again for the Spare.

Nathan

 

LMAO!!! So much for the argument against cutting holes in the rim

Yeah, my '94 doesn't have holes either! WTF? I want the one with holes in it

I'm thinking that as GM added safety equipment to the cars they had to trim more weight somewhere else. Obviously it costs more to put the holes in the wheel, so I can only assume they did it to save weight - what other reason could there be? Gee, I wonder why they didn't just use an aluminum wheel? Umm, maybe because the steel one is stronger - even with the holes in it!

Nathan, sounds like all you have to do is find a salvage yard with a good selection of F-body's and pick up a couple of spare wheels full of holes for, what, maybe $15- $20 each

Good luck. I'm curious what model years have them. Money is real tight for me right now too. I'd like to have some nice aftermarket skinnies, but I'd also like to shave another tenth or so off my times too. Can always swap the tires on to "good" rims once I can afford them

 

The idea about using the wheels is intriguing. I don't see a problem with that (minus drilling any additional holes). I may even try it. Not the tires though!

Rich Krause

 

Ok guys, here are some shots of my low dollar skinnies "in action" :

I just gave it a light sanding last night and a quick coat of "aluminum" paint to see how it would look, that's the stock spare still on it pumped up to 75 lbs. Good thing was I found out I have the "lighter" spare with the holes already in it which is cool, bad part was it's a 16" so now I have to exchange the 15" tires I got for some 16's. I weighed it and it's 27.5lbs compared to 49lbs for my ZR1's w/275's, pretty nice weight savings I'd say. The stock spare is a 135/60/16, I would think it would sit a little better with a 165 tire on it. What do you think, look ok for the track??? If I don't get too many laughs here I'm going to hit the salvage yard this weekend to see if I can pick up another like it.